Honors Institute Courses

The Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute has been developed for students with superior academic promise who wish to enhance their academic experience through participation in the program's small discussion-oriented classes, field trips, retreats, guest lecturers, independent research and individualized faculty mentoring. A more complete description of the Honors Institute appears in the Academic Programs section of this catalog.

The Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute Core Requirement

In the Academic Programs section of this catalog, the College's core curriculum is described. Part II of this curriculum requires that all students take a course that will introduce them to each of the following five Modes of Inquiry:A. Textual AnalysisB. Artistic Creation and AnalysisC. Scientific AnalysisD. Modeling and AnalysisE. Historical and Cultural Analysis

Since all Honors courses fulfill a Modes of Inquiry requirement of the College's core curriculum, Honors students can satisfy as many as four of this five-course requirement with Honors classes. Additionally, Honors students can satisfy part of the College's distribution requirement (one finearts course, two humanities courses, two science courses and two social science courses) by taking Honors seminars.

Students have two distribution options for their four Honors courses. They may: (a) take courses that count for four different Modes of Inquiry from at least three different divisions of the College or (b) take courses from all four divisions of the College that count for at least three different Modes of Inquiry.

All courses to meet the Honors core must be taken for a numerical grade.

To guide Honors students in their selection of Great Issues courses, the following numbering system is used:

HSP 12xH--Natural Science & Mathematics

HSP 1x1H--Textual Analysis

HSP 13xH--Humanities

HSP 1x2H--Artistic Creation and Analysis

HSP 15xH--Social Sciences

HSP 1x3H--Scientific Analysis

HSP 17xH--Fine Arts

HSP 1x4H--Modeling and Analysis

HSP 1x5H--Historical and Cultural Analysis

For example, HSP 154H would be a Great Issues in Social Science seminar that satisfies the Modeling and Analysis Mode.

Courses

HSP 12xHGreat Issues in Science(1)Fall, Spring A seminar for Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute students in which they read and discuss classic and modern works in the history, philosophy, methodology and ethics of science and technology. All seminars fulfill one of the Modes of Inquiry requirements of the College's core curriculum. Staff.

HSP 13xHGreat Issues in Humanities(1)Fall, Spring A seminar for Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute students in which they read and discuss classic and modern works of philosophers and humanists. All seminars fulfill one of the Modes of Inquiry requirements of the College's core curriculum. Staff.

HSP 15xHGreat Issues in Social Science(1)Fall, Spring A seminar for Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute students in which they read and discuss classic and modern works on methodology, philosophy and policy issues in the social sciences. All seminars fulfill one of the Modes of Inquiry requirements of the College's core curriculum. Staff.

HSP 17xHGreat Issues in Fine Arts(1)Fall, Spring A seminar for Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute students in which they explore, through representative readings, exhibits, concerts, performances and lectures, major issues in the development of the fine arts: the relationship between the artist and society, the evolution of critical theory in the arts and the nature of creativity. Individual courses may focus on the visual arts, music, theatre, film or dance. All seminars fulfill one of the Modes of Inquiry requirements of the College's core curriculum. Staff.

HSP 289H Selected Topics (1) Fall, Spring Prerequisite: Permission of the Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute director. An examination of a special topic which is not included in the regular curriculum. Staff.

HSP 397HThesis Development Colloquy(1/4) Fall, Spring A workshop open to Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute juniors and second semester sophomores which guides them through the process of finding and developing a thesis topic and assembling a thesis committee. Students also develop their library research and other thesis-related skills. In the semester they enroll in the colloquy, Honors students may take up to 4 3/4 units without additional tuition charge. Offered on a credit no credit basis. Staff.

HSP 422HHonors Thesis(1/2-1)Fall, Spring Directed independent study leading to the submission of an Honors Thesis. Normally, students begin their thesis research in the second semester of their junior year by enrolling for 1/2 unit of Honors Thesis credit with their thesis adviser. This process continues during the students' senior year when they normally take another one to two units of Honors Thesis credit in order to complete their research and write up their results. In the semesters they enroll for Honors Thesis credit, Honors students may take up to five units (where 1/2 unit is for thesis credit) without additional tuition charge.

Below is a list of the titles of recent Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute theses:

"Investigation of the Holding Time Limits of Representative Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds" "A Case Study of Livonia, Michigan: Housing Segregation in the Metropolitan Detroit Area" "Automatic Hemispheric Activation for Affect from Presentation of Major and Minor Chords: Evidence from an Affective Word Evaluation Task" "Experimental Neurosis? A Runway-based Examination to Develop a Model in the Rat" "The Relationship between Religiosity, Religious Doubt, and the Need for Cognition on Life Satisfaction" "Do House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) Sing the Same Songs in Consecutive Years?" "Beg, Borrow, and Steal: Allusion and Fusion in Twentieth-Century Concert Music" "The Problem of Social Desirability: Continuous Response Measures of Social Judgments" "Preparation and Thermodynamic Characterization of the Anabaena Group I Intron" "American Dreams: The Intersection of Race, Class and Gender in Albion's African American Community" " 'The Pineapple Story': Exploring the Use of Narrative in New Tribes Mission""Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of the Critical Strain Energy Release Rate for Mode II Fracture in FRP-Wood Bonds" "Fanfare for Hitler: Gray Music in the Holocaust" "Triage: A Three-Act Play" "In Search of Legitimacy: The Case of Buddhist Nuns in Burma" "The Homeric Question, Unanswered"

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